RW Kaapo Kakko - TPS, Liiga (2019 Draft) Part 2
- Thread starter Caser
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LOFIN
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- Sep 16, 2011
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I find it even more bizzare, since Kakko has plenty of foreigners with his team. How the f*** is this possible? Even if he plays like hell for the rest of the tournament, this could be a factor that even drops him outside top-3. Who wants a hockey player who can't speak the language these days, no matter how good he is?
FinPanda
Barkov Stanley cup champ!
I don't think this is something that will drop him. I am sure his team (TPS) will notice and Kakko will be prepared for the combine. But I still think it is possible that he knows it but not good enough so he can speak it => translator.
Would be awful to drop someone because of a language when he has played really well. How about Russians who doesn't speak English at all? They haven't dropped because of the language.
Blade Paradigm
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- Oct 21, 2017
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Some of you seem overly worried about trivial, miscellaneous details about Finnish prospects.
It's one thing to discuss a player's tendencies and ability on the ice; it's a totally different thing to micromanage his stick length preferences and language skills.
Patrik Laine didn't get any bonus points for getting his driver's license before the 2016 World Championship.
It's one thing to discuss a player's tendencies and ability on the ice; it's a totally different thing to micromanage his stick length preferences and language skills.
Patrik Laine didn't get any bonus points for getting his driver's license before the 2016 World Championship.
FinPanda
Barkov Stanley cup champ!
I definitely agree he should know how to speak English better when you can't avoid it here in Finland. But I don't see it as a trouble as long he is working on it.
He is not the first Finnish guy using a translator.
StiffSquid
Registered User
All hope is lost. He can't speak English
Well that’s it guys he is a bust, avoid drafting him at all costs. It’s not like he could learn english in 5 months for the combine...
I think he can speak english, but isn’t comfortable with it. He seems way more booksmart than Pulju, so I’d guess he won’t have any trouble learning the language fluently.
Chill the f*** out guys lmao...
I think he can speak english, but isn’t comfortable with it. He seems way more booksmart than Pulju, so I’d guess he won’t have any trouble learning the language fluently.
Chill the f*** out guys lmao...
Zakkk
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- Nov 18, 2011
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Are you ******* kidding me?
Noma
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Kakko's teammate Jonne Virtanen says that Kakko speaks English decently. Probably just was a bit shy to communicate in foreign language in such a big media scrum.
LOFIN
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- Sep 16, 2011
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No. My hope is restored. If Jonne says he speaks, I trust him. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
BB88
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Some Finns need to stop acting like speaking in English in situations like this is easy as a 17y old.
I would have been nervous as hell.
I would have been nervous as hell.
Hokinaittii
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- Aug 15, 2015
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Shades of Puljujärvi. You probably want to avoid drafting this guy until 2nd round.
Conspiracy Theorist
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Kopitar would be a bad comparable in my opinion. The kid plays like a copy of Peter Forsberg.
FinPanda
Barkov Stanley cup champ!
Thanks. I was thinking about that, good that his teammate confirmed it.
It tells about a lot about hockey talk in Finland that Kakko's supposed "language problems" were the biggest news on Finnish hockey twitter.
covfefe
Zoltan Poszar's Burner
- Feb 5, 2014
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Totally agree, I think he should slide to wherever the Habs pick ends up. We would offer Kakko the best chance for a continuing language controversy.
Zaddy
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- Feb 8, 2013
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What makes Kopitar a bad comparison do you think? From what I've seen so far he's big, strong, skates well and has great hands. Maybe not the shot Kopi has but that might come with age. I personally don't see the likeness to Forsberg at all, Peter was a very special player and I don't think there has really been anyone to come close to his playing style so far.
Matthews I could see a little bit, but I think Matthews is a more cerebral and deft player in everything that he does while Kakko is slightly more electric or flashy, if that makes sense.
Well yeah, Kopitar isn’t a bad comparable, but if you watch the games you’ll see the way Kakko absolutely dominates the corners as did young Forsberg. I don’t think Kopy is that dominant in the corners.
to be fair, svechnikov was using a translator last year (at the draft combine). he speaks english pretty okay.
kelsier
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- Aug 17, 2013
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The way Kakko has carried himself at the World juniors so far has been nothing short of impressive. He's been the team's most dominating forward and at the same time just seems to elevate other players around him. If they let Kakko play with Tolvanen for the remaining of the tournament I think even the team might just stand a chance.
When you say "should know how to SPEAK English", I disagree. It's super easy to avoid to speaking English, it happens naturally.
What he definitely should know is how to read and understand English, that you can't avoid. But that doesn't help in an interview like this. But speaking especially for Finns is a different ballgame. You can't just study/hear/read it, you need to actually speak it a lot to get comfortable. And that's something that often takes moving to a place where it's spoken everyday.
A Finn could have a perfect vocabulary in English and still can't be able to speak English coherently. Such different languages. Completely different from Swedes.
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